Ministers have been accused of “devolution through the back door” after quietly launching plans to hand more adult education funding powers to local councils.
Under a pilot scheme starting in September, funding that would normally be procured through the Department for Education’s national adult education budget for non-devolved areas will be handed to 11 local authorities.
However, some councils were surprised to learn they had been named in the DfE’s pilot list, seen by FE Week, and suggested there had been “some confusion.”
One said it was “seeking further clarity” from the government this week.
News of the pilot emerged earlier this month in a DfE update sent to training companies with national adult skills fund contracts, warning that training delivered in the 11 local authority areas would “not be fundable,” as the local councils would be “in receipt of funding directly from [academic year] 2025-26.”
Officials claimed they did not need to announce the plans publicly, despite some local authorities being made aware as early as January, as the extra funding would be distributed through a “business-as-usual allocations process.”
The local authorities listed for the pilot are: Devon County Council, Torbay Council, Lincolnshire County Council, North East Lincolnshire Council, North Lincolnshire Council, Hull City Council, East Riding of Yorkshire Council, Warwickshire County Council, Buckinghamshire Council, Norfolk County Council, and Suffolk County Council.
Devolution through the back door?
The DfE denies the pilot is a form of devolution, but confirmed it is testing the theory that local areas could be better positioned than central government at identifying and addressing local skills needs.
A spokesperson told FE Week it wants to support local areas to prepare for devolution by building experience of a wider adult skills fund offer than councils may currently deliver.
It is a sign that the government is keen to speed up devolution of skills budgets, beyond timelines agreed by the last government and frameworks set out in Labour’s English devolution white paper.
But the move has led to complaints of “devolution through the back door” and warnings that additional complexity in the commissioning landscape “impacts deliverability.”
About 60 per cent of the £1.4 billion adult education budget was devolved to mayoral authorities this academic year.
This was due to increase to about 70 per cent in the next academic year – as East Midlands, Cornwall, and York and North Yorkshire gain control of their skills budgets.
Simon Ashworth, deputy CEO of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, called for “more transparency” about the pilot as “it feels a bit like we’re getting more devolution through the back door.”
He told FE Week: “While a phased transition to devolution isn’t necessarily a bad idea, this latest move only adds more fuel to the argument that the post-16 skills landscape is already too complex.”
“This complexity impacts deliverability, making life harder for providers who are trying to plan and deliver high-quality provision.”
Leaders not aware
While plans appear to have been set in motion in areas such as Lincolnshire and Hull/East Yorkshire, which are both due to elect combined authority mayors in May, others appeared surprised that they were listed in the DfE update.
A spokesperson for Buckinghamshire Council said “there may have been some confusion” as the council did not expect changes to its adult skills funding before 2026-27.
They added: “To stress, no acceleration of the current devolution plans has been actioned.”
A spokesperson for Warwickshire County Council also said its officials were seeking “further clarity” from the DfE and had not made “arrangements” for taking control of funding locally.
Sue Pember, policy director at adult education network Holex, said the pilot was “sensible and pragmatic” given the government’s desire to devolve skills “at pace.”
She added: “The alternative – requiring providers to navigate dual systems – would add unnecessary complexity.”
“Local authorities already hold significant commissioning experience, with many managing skills contracts, careers services and programmes like the DWP’s new Connect to Work initiative.”
“This positions them well to oversee and coordinate local training provision effectively.”
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